How to add a Vendor Meter to a Pricing Plan

Introduction

This article explains how to create a Meter for usage-based pricing, and how to reuse an existing Meter across multiple Offers and pricing plans instead of creating it again for every plan. Reusing Meters keeps usage-based metering consistent for a Vendor, reduces duplicate configuration, and lowers the risk of usage data being rejected because two Meters were created for the same metric.

To learn how to manage Vendor Meters through the API instead, see "How to manage Vendor Meters via API".

In this article:

• What are reusable Vendor Meters?
• Create a new Meter
• Use an existing Meter
• Set the price for this pricing plan
• Delete a Meter
• Important Information

What are reusable Vendor Meters?

A Meter is stored once per Vendor and can be selected from a list and reused across all of that Vendor's Offers and Pricing Plans — including plans in a different Currency, since a Meter definition is currency-agnostic.

• You do not need to re-enter the same Name, Category, Sub-Category and Unit for a metric you already report.
• A Meter created in one Pricing Plan is immediately available for selection in any other Pricing Plan for the same Vendor.
• Reusing an existing Meter helps ensure the usage you report always matches the same metric definition, so usage data is not rejected during validation.

Create a new Meter

Follow these steps to create a Meter from within a Pricing Plan. Once created, the Meter is stored for the Vendor and becomes available to add in any of that Vendor's other Pricing Plans.

1. In Product Management, open Offers and select the Offer you want to configure.
2. In the Actions column, click the Edit pricing plan icon.

3. On the Pricing step, click Create Plan and Create New to open a Pricing Plan wizard in CPQ.

4. In the Pricing Plan editor, select Usage from the left-hand menu.

5. Under Meters, click Add New Meter. A pop-up window opens where you can define the Meter.

6. Fill in Id from Vendor, Name, Category, Sub-Category, Unit and Aggregation Type for the Meter.

7. Click Add to save the Meter.

   

8. Configure the Price for this Pricing Plan, then save the Pricing Plan.

Use an existing Meter

Follow these steps to add a Meter that already exists for this Vendor to a Pricing Plan, instead of creating it again.

1. Open the Usage section of the Pricing Plan, as described in steps 1–4 of Create a new Meter.
2. Under Meters, click Add Existing Meter. The Add existing consumption meter pop-up opens.

3. In the search field, type to search by name or ID and select the Meter you want to reuse.
4. Name, Category, Sub-Category, Unit, Aggregation Type and Status are filled in automatically from the selected Meter and cannot be edited, so the shared definition stays consistent across Pricing Plans.
5. Click Add to add the Meter to this Pricing Plan, or Cancel to discard your selection.

6. Configure the Price for this Pricing Plan, then save the Pricing Plan.

Set the price for this pricing plan

Whether you created a new Meter or added an existing one, the Price you configure — the pricing formula, tiers and rate — always applies only to the current Pricing Plan.

• You can set or override the Price for a reused Meter independently in each Pricing Plan it is used in.
• You cannot change the shared Name, Category, Sub-Category or Unit of a Meter from within a Pricing Plan once it has been added as an existing Meter — those fields are read-only.
• A Meter is currency-agnostic, so the same Meter can be reused in Pricing Plans set up in different currencies; you still configure the rate for each Pricing Plan and currency separately.

Delete a Meter

A Meter cannot be deleted while it is still referenced by at least one Pricing Plan.

1. Open the Meter you want to delete and select the delete option.
2. If the Meter is used in one or more Pricing Plans, the Platform shows a message listing the Pricing Plans (by name or ID) that still reference it, and deletion is blocked.
3. Remove the Meter from each listed Pricing Plan, or archive/delete those Pricing Plans, then try deleting the Meter again.

Important Information

• Some pricing formulas (for example Choice price table or Quantity price table) rely on Design section controls that are specific to the Pricing Plan the Meter was created in. If you reuse such a Meter in a different Pricing Plan, you may need to reconfigure the matching controls in that plan. Meters that use the Constant formula do not have this restriction.
• Once a Meter is added as an existing Meter, its Name, Category, Sub-Category and Unit cannot be edited from within a Pricing Plan. To use a different definition, create a new Meter instead.
• A Meter cannot be deleted while any Pricing Plan still references it (see Delete a Meter).
• If you need help resolving a duplicate Meter error or removing a Meter that appears stuck, submit a Support request.

Summary

A Meter can be created directly from the Usage section of a Pricing Plan using Add New Meter, or an existing Meter already created for the Vendor can be added using Add Existing Meter and reused across Offers and Pricing Plans — including plans in different currencies. You can always set your own Price for the current Pricing Plan, and a Meter cannot be deleted while it is still referenced by a Pricing Plan.

Related content

• How to manage Vendor meters via API